What does it mean for the digital sector when women lead? That was just one of the questions posed by moderator Ellie Edwards-Scott at this year’s Digital Women in Cannes panel, hosted by NDA.
Across invitees ranging from global brand heads, to agencies and vendors, our female panellists discussed how women bring unique skills to an evolving sector, what it means on both a personal and professional level to take up those leadership roles, the need for support networks and challenges still to come.
Overall, one thing was abundantly clear – there is no digital sector without women in it at all levels.
Take artificial intelligence (AI) for example. “Ethics has to be led by emotional intelligence and AI has to be led by how humans feel it should be represented in the world. As women, I’m seeing incredible people step up to the plate and drive the ethics and governance conversations that really need to be had,” insisted Sarah Salter – Global Head of Innovation and Platforms, Wavemaker.
From emotional intelligence to unique strategic perspectives, we should very much be beyond the age where we’re questioning what women can bring. “It’s really difficult to define the opportunities that are specifically for women,” claimed Amy Williams – Founder and CEO, Good-Loop. “I’ve traditionally bristled at these kind of questions because, there’s equal opportunity – I’m the same as everyone else.”
However, Williams added, when it comes to some inescapable facts about being female, it does make a difference. In her case, she is shortly to go on maternity leave. “Now, I’m not the same as anyone else on my board. I’ve really felt it when we’ve been having conversations about my leave.”
Edwards-Scott noted that men may be part of the same family, experiencing the same family stages, but it’s hard to argue it is still a very different experience for working women. Elsa Murray, UK Sales Director, LG Ad Solutions made the very clear point that “you’ll never hear the term ‘working dad’”.
Arancha Cordero, SVP Dairy, Head of Global Category, Danone, argued that it may be a women’s issue, but it’s everybody’s problem to solve. “We don’t see ourselves [in a leadership position] because we don’t identify with what is considered to be the official standard of leadership, and we don’t ask for a new version. It’s critical to change what the leadership standards are and companies need to take that responsibility.You need people on the company board to take ownership of the programme, and of course HR needs to play a key role, but not only HR. And, those of us that are in leadership positions should take the leap and be very open and explicit about it.”
Worryingly, it’s not just lack of opportunity but lack of appetite. Juliet McCutcheon – Commercial Director UK, Channel Factory noted a dearth of female applicants, specifically in commercial roles. “We work a lot with big agencies in the UK and you can count the women in trading on one hand – barely. Somewhere along the line women are being deterred from sales roles. But you can’t be what you can’t see and there’s the perception that it’s a bit ‘lads, lads, lads’”.
Male dominance in certain areas of the digital sector are still a fact of life. “In data science,” Salter revealed, “less than 20% are female.” She points out that this isn’t necessarily an industry problem, but one that starts much earlier in education and the need to encourage women into STEM.
Good-Loop’s Williams discussed the opportunity building a company from the bottom up gave her to embed a more empathetic form of leadership. She’s not sure if it’s more ‘feminine’, but “it’s certainly newer than the more testosterone-fuelled” environments.
“My job as a leader is to empower [people] and then to get out of their way. It’s a great privilege, building your own company because you really do have a blank slate,” she admitted. That blank slate includes equity for everyone, a staff member sitting on the board and frank conversations that make the organisation more complex, but more fulfilling.
That’s not to say large organisations are beyond hope. Salter was instrumental in changing WPP’s maternity policy after her own baby was born prematurely. “It’s important that we experience some of the challenges that we’re all fighting for ourselves. We need to push that change or it won’t happen.”
LG Ad Solutions’ Murray agreed that it’s people rather than initiatives that drive change. “I’ve definitely had people who haven’t been allies and the best thing about LG Ad Solutions is that everybody is an ally. Major leaders are very much putting us at the forefront of things like panels. It’s leading from behind and empowering everyone.”
Leaders, allyship, support networks – it has to be more than one thing to make sure that women make their mark at every level of the organisation in the most positive way possible. Danone’s Cordero notes the support has to be ongoing, with the right structures in place so women are helped to achieve the right competencies along with the promotions so they can feel secure and effective. Even appearing on panels like Digital Women takes practice: “Networks are something I wish I was more involved in,” McCutcheon admitted. “The Women in Programmatic is a really good one. They do practice panels and situations like this. It’s great for learning new stuff.”
Williams ends with the point that “as a founder, your network is your biggest asset. It trains a muscle in your brain that perhaps isn’t there when you work in a big organisation. But it’s a living organism, something you must nurture every day.”
